I’m delighted to welcome a returning Helen Golden to the blog with her new book, A Dowager is Done-in #bookreview #historicalmystery #blogtour #avidreader

Here’s the blurb

A mysterious summons. A fatal hot chocolate. And a duchess who never expected mourning to be this dreadfully dull.

Hampshire, 1891. Six months into widowhood, Alice, Duchess of Stortford, is restless. Black gowns and seclusion in the country have their limits, so when Clarissa, Dowager Countess of Romley, sends a personal summons asking for her discreet assistance with a troubling matter at Lawrence House, Alice seizes the excuse for a change of scene.

But what begins as a family gathering to welcome home the Dowager’s once-disgraced son ends in shock. Clarissa is discovered dead, her passing swiftly dismissed as a heart attack. Alice knows better. The Dowager had been afraid — and had trusted her to uncover the truth. Someone silenced her, but why? Was it to do with the announcement she made over dinner, or something even more dangerous?

Now everyone in the house is a suspect: the resentful heir, the returning prodigal, the mysterious guest with a too-familiar face. With her sharp-witted maid Maud, steadfast footman George, and her reluctant ally Lord Rushton at her side, Alice must act quickly. If the Dowager was murdered to keep her secrets buried, the killer will not hesitate to strike again.

The Dowager is dead. The clock is ticking. And the duchess is about to discover that country house parties can be murder.

Full of clever twists and a heroine who won’t give up until she finds out the truth, A Dowager is Done-in is the perfect escape for fans of historical mysteries wrapped in wit and warmth.

Purchase Link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dowager-Done-Duchess-Stortford-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FNR838B8/

https://www.amazon.com/Dowager-Done-Duchess-Stortford-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FNR838B8/

My Review

A Dowager is Done-in is the second full length novel in the Duchess of Stortford cosy historical mystery series.

Some time has gone by since the events of book 1, but Alice is still deemed to be in mourning, so her summons to attend upon Clarissa is met with some uncertainty. Would it be appropriate for her to attend? I think we all know she’ll find her way there, one way or another.

The mystery then unfolds at a fair pace. Who killed Clarissa and why? Alice and her helpers are determined to find out, especially as no one else truly suspects a murder has been committed.

This has all the feels of a classic country house murder mystery, with the rowing family and others with a keen eye to profit from the dowager countess’s will, if only the new will can be found. Alice manages to just about avoid scandal with her investigation, and this was another enjoyable cosy historical mystery.

Check out my reviews for the books in Helen Golden’s Right Royal Mystery series, featuring one of Lady Alice’s descendants.

Spruced Up For Murder

For Richer, For Deader

Not Mushroom For Death

A Dead Herring

A Cocktail to Die For

A Death of Fresh Air

I Kill Always Love You

A Murder Most Wilde

And my review for the prequel in the new historical mystery series, as well as the first full length novel.

An Heir is Misplaced

A Husband is Hushed Up

Meet the author

Helen Golden spins mysteries that are charmingly British, delightfully deadly, and served with a twist of humour.

With quirky characters, clever red herrings, and plots that keep the pages turning, she’s the author of the much-loved A Right Royal Cozy Investigation series, following Lady Beatrice and her friends—including one clever little dog—as they uncover secrets hidden in country houses and royal palaces. Her new historical mystery series, The Duchess of Stortford Mysteries, is set in Victorian England and introduces an equally curious sleuth from Lady Beatrice’s own family tree—where murders are solved over cups of tea, whispered gossip, and overheard conversations in drawing rooms and grand estates.

Helen lives in a quintessential English village in Lincolnshire with her husband, stepdaughter, and a menagerie of pets—including a dog, several cats, a tortoise, and far too many fish.

If you love clever puzzles, charming settings, and sleuths with spark, her books are waiting for you.

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